August 24, 1998

An IAS officer's wife charges a Laloo associate with rape. But the case is more complicated than it appears.

By Bharat Desai

Crime for long has been an inextricable part of politics in Bihar. So much so that even rapes and murders by politicians and their kin cease to shock. But even the desensitised people of the state were shaken when an IAS officer's wife charged Mritunjay Yadav, a close associate of former chief minister Laloo Prasad Yadav, with repeatedly raping her and several of her relatives over the past two years in Patna. The matter would have remained under wraps or gathered dust in some police station but for the fact that the alleged victim recently shot off a letter to the state Governor Sunder Singh Bhandari, demanding action against the accused.

If Champa Biswas' accusations turn out to be true, what emerges is a sordid tale of sexual exploitation and intimidation over a period of two years. In her complaint to the governor, Champa, wife of B.B. Biswas -- a 1982 batch IAS officer serving as director of social security in the state's Labour Department -- claimed that Mritunjay, 27, and his friends raped not only her, but also her mother, her two maidservants, her sister-in-law and Biswas' niece Kalyani. They were "subjected to sexual exploitation with criminal coercion and intimidation, rapes with violence, seduction and inducements through promises of government jobs", she stated in her complaint. The 30-year-old Champa also said that she had undergone one abortion and subsequently opted for sterilisation "to avoid pregnancy due to repeated rape". She expressed fears that Kalyani and two maidservants, who have since disappeared, may have committed suicide or been murdered.

Acting on the complaint, the governor has requested the Union Home Ministry to take suitable action in the matter. At the state level, DGP (administration) Niyaz Ahmed has directed the police to conduct an inquiry.

With allegations of a crime of this magnitude, politics couldn't be far behind. The case has acquired political overtones not only because Mritunjay is an influential Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) activist who has even penned a hagiography of Laloo, but also because the Opposition BJP has taken up Champa's cause. Though the complaint was filed as early as June, the matter became public only after the BJP's Sushil Kumar Modi, leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Assembly, called a news conference on August 8 in Patna. "This just shows that even women belonging to respectable and influential families are helpless against RJD workers, who know they can get away with anything," he said.

The IAS officer and his family shifted to Delhi last November. While his wife claims she was subjected to rape for two years, Biswas himself is said to have become aware of it only in July last year. "He was in a fix and very perturbed and helpless," says Champa in her complaint, suggesting that her husband's life was in danger and therefore they had decided to shift to a safer place.

Mritunjay, expectedly, denies the whole affair. The eldest of three sons of Hemlata Yadav -- the chairperson of Bihar's Social Welfare Advisory Board and a former MLA -- he says he was "taken by surprise" at the allegations. "It is a political conspiracy against me and my mother," he says. "It has been cooked up just to explain why Biswas has been absent from his job without authorisation." His party bosses too seem to have implicit faith in him. The RJD chief whip in the Assembly Mohammed Nemtullah says, "I know Hemlata's family personally. I don't think the boy could have done this."

But if Mritunjay's past is any indication, this faith could well be misplaced. Three years ago, he was detained by police for allegedly molesting the daughter of a state politician. But as the then chief minister's biographer, he had enough clout to ensure that no formal complaint was lodged. Now, he dismisses the incident, saying, "I was told by the policemen they were providing me safety by keeping inside the police station."

If that does not sound convincing, there are enough holes in Champa's story too. Why did she wait so long to complain? How is it that when so many women were being raped not one raised an alarm for two years? Why didn't Biswas use his position to lodge a complaint for over a year? Sources in the police believe Champa and Mritunjay may have been having an affair, but she possibly started resisting when he began asking her to entertain his friends. He may then have resorted to force and intimidation against her relatives and maidservants. The abortion and the sterilisation too point to some sort of an initial relationship.

Hemlata, a Laloo confidante for the past eight years, says that Biswas forced Champa to lodge the complaint to cover up for his unauthorised absence. Police sources also suspect that the Biswas family fled Patna not only to avoid the unpleasant situation at home, but also to escape an inquiry instituted against him last year. The inquiry was ordered following revelations of irregularities in the recruitment of some 250 persons in his department. His seniors too cannot understand Biswas' silence. State Chief Secretary S.N. Biswas has expressed surprise that Champa's husband did not bring the incident to the notice of the state Government.

The truth will emerge only after the inquiries, but in the meantime the Opposition is sure to derive political mileage out of the affair. That may not augur well for Mritunjay who harbours ambitions of following in the footsteps of his idol. But then, as he admits, "In Bihar's politics, such allegations can even prove advantageous." Evidently, in the badlands of Bihar, hope lies eternal.

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